Symposium tackles health and legislative issues around climate change … and how businesses can help

An event to discuss the health effects of climate change in Idaho and around the world brought together scientists, health professionals, government leaders and others on May 16.

Co-sponsored by Saint Alphonsus and St. Luke’s, the Treasure Valley Climate and Health Symposium went beyond the facts of climate change to talk about what can be done and how businesses and legislators can make a difference.

Though the topic of climate change can sometimes get political, data shows that the majority of people accept the facts and know action needs to be taken.

In a 2024 survey of 2,103 business leaders published by Deloitte, 70% of respondents said emissions and global temperatures will have significant impacts on business operations, and 45% stated that they would be changing their models to lower emissions and work within a low-carbon economy.

Dr. Jennifer Pierce, a professor at Boise State University’s Department of Geoscience and School of the Environment, laid out the overall meaning of the day’s topic, and added survey numbers show how the general public feels about climate change. In data published in September of 2021, the majority of respondents believed the science that as been accumulated over decades.

Of those respondents, 33% were “alarmed,” 25% were “concerned,” 17% were “cautious” and 10% were “doubtful,” 9% were “dismissive” and 5% were “disengaged.”

Data shows that what was once an occasional occurrence, wildfires directly caused due to conditions caused by climate change have now become “seasons,” and in some cases, year round.

“It was very cool and wet in the [1950s] through the ’70s, and we were pretty good at suppressing those small fires,” Pierce said. “Now, of course, it is markedly warmer and drier, almost two degrees Fahrenheit warmer globally. So, it is real. … People care.”As a teaching tool, Pierce wears what she calls her “climate scarf,” which is made of strips in various colors.

“This is a scarf that was knitted for me by my friend Karen, and it shows changes in temperature in Idaho from 1890 to 2021, so each of these bands is the average temperature change in Idaho,” she said. “This is a graph but you can touch it, you can understand it.”

The symposium is the perfect storm of ideas brought together by Dr. Wesley Pidcock, a pulmonologist at Saint Alphonsus in Nampa, Dr. Kathryn Conlon, an assistant professor with University of California, Davis, specializing in environmental and occupational epidemiology, and Dr. Ethan Sims, an emergency medical specialist with St. Luke’s in Nampa and the founder of the Idaho Clinicians for Climate and Health, among others.

For Pidcock, the topic is quite literally close to home. He and Conlon are married and a discussion about climate change led to the creation of the symposium.

“When we had that six-week stretch of horrible smoke and heat where you really couldn’t go outside and enjoy anything, we were talking about how bad this is going to be for future generations,” he said. “One of the best things about being in Idaho is being able to enjoy the outdoors; it’s pretty much the reason all of us are here.”

The couple discussed Conlon giving a lecture about the topic, and then Pidcock met Sims and “it just kind of blew up into this symposium,” he said. “We thought it would be nice if we could get all the health care systems in the valley to come together to talk about this, and not only talk about … the health impacts but what we can do.”

Topics covered a wide range of impacts on health from heat and wildfires to how the changing environment impacts mental health and how new infections emerge.

When it came to how businesses can get involved, organizers and speakers said it comes down to being able to share info with others. In Idaho, there are no specific laws regarding outdoor workers in extreme heat like there are in neighboring states, but most business owners understand the bottom line of protecting their employees.

“If it reaches a certain temperature, it’s the employer’s responsibility to take workers out of the field or take workers off your rooftop, so people aren’t trying to do roofing projects when it’s 110 degrees,” Sims said. “A lot of the workers in these areas are not people that feel comfortable coming forward and saying, ‘I feel like I’m going to pass out. I need to take a break.’”

Sims said Nevada and New Mexico are part of a medical society consortium trying to get commonsense heat standards passed for outdoor workers. Part of getting the message out and taking action is educating the public and businesses through such initiatives. Business organizations can then take their concerns to legislators.

“Studies from the health care side of things have shown that outdoor workers are more effective and actually drive higher profits when they’re given time for water breaks when it’s hot, when they’re given shade structures to take breaks in,” he said. “So, it is financially beneficial for these companies to do this. They may not know that data.”

The United States loses approximately $100 billion in productivity annually due to heat-related illnesses. As trusted voices in the community, Sims said it’s up to physicians and nurses to stand up and raise those health concerns.

Dr. Marc Futernick, an emergency physician based in Los Angeles, climate advocate and director of Clinical Services for U.S. Acute Care Solutions, laid out the health problems caused by extreme heat.

“We’re in Idaho and you may feel like, well, we don’t get extreme heat. It doesn’t get over 100 here,” he said. “Very often, extreme heat is defined by the location.”

Futernick cited a study wherein extreme heat was defined as heat that was in the 95th percentile for an area. It looked at what was taking place in 3,000 counties across the U.S.

“[Emergency department] visits increase. Heat-related illnesses increase a lot, of course. These are the hottest days in the area,” he said. “But renal disease increased by 30% just because it was hot out, and mental health [issues] by 8%. … More people die. More heart attacks and strokes. More respiratory illness and ailments.”

Several solutions for combating climate change were discussed, such as worker protections, denser tree canopies, reflective surfaces and the usual renewable and sustainable energy that focus more on things like solar, wind and geothermal sources.

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said she has heard from people in the agricultural industry about the days getting hotter and how they know that temperatures can affect crop outputs and how cattle is run. She added that the city is working with residents to create more sustainable practices and to ultimately be carbon neutral by 2050.

“Boiseans have been clear that they want action. The work that we’re doing to meet our clean electricity goals, which will save us money in the long run, as well as be carbon neutral by 2050, and save us money in the long run, were made with residents, hand in hand.” she said. “We really appreciate the work of our Community Climate Action Committee that’s coming up with ideas that the community wants us to implement.”

That committee reinforces that residents, business owners and community leaders are working to find solutions to an issue scientists and health care professionals say will only get worse if people don’t act.

“If you feel like this is something that only us in this room care about, you’re wrong,” Pierce said.